But he has responded with silence since the news broke – and he made no mention of the accolade at his show in Las Vegas that night either.

The academy’s permanent secretary Sara Danius says: “Right now we are doing nothing. I have called and sent emails to his closest collaborator and received very friendly replies. For now, that is certainly enough.”

On December 10 each year, Nobel prize winners are invited to a banquet in Stockholm to accept their award from King Carl XVI Gustaf and give a speech.

Dylan has long been known for his reticence, giving relatively few interviews and rarely interacting with his audience at shows. But he has previously turned up for lesser honours – including a MusiCares charity award last year, in which he offered revealing comments to journalists on his songwriting methods.

In 2001, he also accepted a Golden Globes ‘Best Original Song’ award for his track Things Have Changed, which featured in the film Wonder Boys.

Danius adds: “I am not at all worried. I think he will show up. But if he doesn’t want to come, he won’t come. It will be a big party in any case and the honour belongs to him.”

Dylan is currently on the road as part of his Never Ending Tour following the release of his collection of American songbook classics titled Fallen Angels. The run will wrap up on November 23 at the Broward Center For The Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Hibbing High School – where Dylan was a student – paid tribute to him by changing the notice board on their front lawn. It reads: “Congrats to Bob Zimmerman class of 1959 who received a Nobel Prize in Literature.”